August meets his favorite Blue Jacket

Meet August. He's Swedish, a hockey lover and currently part of a neurology clinical trial at Nationwide Children's Hospital. August and his family have been in Columbus for six weeks for treatment and as a hockey family, knew they wanted to come to a Blue Jackets game.

While August can't see what's happening on the ice, he can feel the energy of the hockey game and crowd at Nationwide Arena while his father tells him a play-by-play of the game. August can only speak Swedish and has only been able to speak to his family during his time in Columbus.

That was until he met his favorite Blue Jackets player Alexander Wennberg, who's also a Swedish native. After nearly a half hour of talking with the family, Alex ran to the locker room as they said goodbye and gave both August and his little brother autographed sticks. It's been a tough time for the family being so far away from home but Alex brought a little piece of home back to them.

Columbus veterans have younger brothers now in the NHL

The Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman spent the team's off night glued to his television screen, where he watched his brother, Caleb, make his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers.

"I was sitting there the whole time watching it," Jones said. "(I told him), 'Don't be nervous, it's just another hockey game.' But it's impossible. I remember my game still. You have butterflies and the jitters. It's a pretty exciting feeling."

Nick Foligno celebrates his 800th game in style

Columbus captain scores only goal of Blue Jackets' win over Vegas

The consummate professional and team captain, Nick Foligno, playing in career game No. 800, just had to score the 30th game-winning goal of his career.

That it was the only goal in the Columbus Blue Jackets' 1-0 victory on Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights was even more fitting. And that he delivered his postgame interview sporting a new bright red mark on his cheek, courtesy of a cross-check into the glass that drew a penalty and cost him exactly zero seconds of playing time, also seemed oddly appropriate.

RECAP: Blue Jackets 1, Golden Knights 0

Nick Foligno's goal in his 800th NHL game pushes Columbus to victory

The Columbus Blue Jackets cooled off the red-hot Vegas Golden Knights in the friendly confines of Nationwide Arena on Monday night, earning a 1-0 victory to improve to 18-12-3 on the season. Vegas, which had won 10 of 13, fell to 19-15-2.

Game in a Paragraph

Neither team could find a goal in the first 40 minutes, but it took just 40 seconds of the third period before Nick Foligno broke the deadlock. From there, a Blue Jackets team without Artemi Panarin made the lead stand up with Sergei Bobrovsky making 28 saves on the night.

CBJ Weekly Report 12.17.18

Following Monday's game vs. Vegas, the Blue Jackets will play four-straight games against Metropolitan Division opponents

Following Monday's game vs. Vegas, the Blue Jackets will play four-straight games and five of its next seven against Metropolitan Division opponents.

The Blue Jackets, who rank 15th in the NHL on the penalty kill at 79.6 percent, have killed off 11-straight opponent power plays over the past five games and rank fifth in the NHL on the PK since Nov. 1 at 84.5 percent (49-of-58).

F Nick Foligno is expected to play in his 800th NHL game on Dec. 17 vs. Vegas. The CBJ captain has tallied 176-241-417 in 799 career games with Columbus and Ottawa, including 115-154-269 in 448 contests as a Blue Jacket. He has tallied 7-10-17 in 31 games this season.

Practice Report: Blue Jackets prepare for Vegas

Columbus looks for more offense as the team hosts the Golden Knights

Going into tonight's home game vs. Vegas, the Columbus Blue Jackets are still on pace to not just set a franchise record for goals in a season but to blow by it, with the team's average of 3.34 goals per game well ahead of the 2016-17's record mark of 3.01.

It just hasn't looked like it in the last four games. In that span, the Blue Jackets have just seven goals, one reason why the team's record is 1-2-1.

Of course, one of those games was not like the other. The team had a defensive reset after a 4-0 loss Dec. 12 vs. Washington, and the No. 1 focus over the past three games has been to check the way head coach John Tortorella wants his team to check.

That mission has been accomplished. The Blue Jackets allowed an average of 11.3 scoring chances in those three games according to the numbers the coaching staff tracks, below the goal of 13 the staff has established.

Columbus Blue Jackets recall Dean Kukan

CBJ recall Kukan from AHL Cleveland Monsters

The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled defenseman Dean Kukan from the Cleveland Monsters, Columbus' American Hockey League affiliate, club General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen announced today.

Kukan, 25, has recorded four penalty minutes in six games with the Blue Jackets this season. He has notched four assists, six penalty minutes and a +10 plus/minus rating in 25 career appearances with the club since making his NHL debut in 2015-16. The 6-2, 186-pound defenseman posted 0-4-4, two penalty minutes and was +2 in 11 outings with Columbus in 2017-18. He tallied 1-1-2 with an even plus/minus rating in five games during a conditioning assignment with Cleveland.

The native of Volketswil, Switzerland has collected 9-50-59 and 71 penalty minutes in 142 career AHL games with the Monsters, including 1-14-15 and 20 penalty minutes in 32 contests in 2017-18. He was originally signed by the Blue Jackets to a two-year, entry level contract on June 1, 2015.

The Blue Jackets return to action on Monday when they host the Vegas Golden Knights. Game time from Nationwide Arena is 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage on FOX Sports Ohio begins with the Blue Jackets Live pre-game show starting at 6:30 p.m. All Blue Jackets games televised on FOX Sports Ohio will also be streamed live via the FOX Sports app. The game may also be heard on the Eldorado Gaming Scioto Downs Blue Jackets Radio Network, including Sports Radio 97.1 FM The Fan in Columbus, and online at BlueJackets.com.